Britvic’s water consumption surges in 2013

Tango and 7UP manufacturer Britvic recorded a 24% year-on-year increase in water usage in 2013, largely due to increased production and "frequent line changes".


Although the soft drinks company reported an 11% reduction in water used relative to production since 2009, the company said it had faced challenges across its British manufacturing sites in 2012/13.

According to the company’s 2013 sustainability report, water consumption increased at the majority of its manufacturing sites in Britain due to the “hot summer which increased production”.

Extended cleaning operations were required to deal with the rise in production and the “frequent line changes” that occurred throughout the year. This in turn meant more water was used, increasing consumption to 4,393,069m3 across the business.

It also claimed that an incident in 2012 which involved recalling bottles of Fruit Shoot, manufactured by the company’s brand Robinson’s, over the safety of the bottles new plastic cap caused water consumption to rise further.

“We were also impacted by the Fruit Shoot recall of 2012 and its phased return to the market, which resulted in less volume being produced, while water use for cleaning remained high,” the company said.

However, Britvic said it is confident that it can “get back on track” in reducing water consumption. Mainly, by implementing suggestions made through the Federation House Commitment (FHC) – a pledge that aims to help reduce overall water usage across the Food and Drink sector by 20% by 2020.

In addition, the report showed that absolute carbon emissions across the business increased 1.7% in 2013 from 2012. However, the company surpassed its target to reduce CO2 equivalent emissions by 3% since 2010/11 across the business, achieving 3.5%.

Turning to waste, the report showed that since 2011, the company has successfully achieved zero waste to landfill from its British manufacturing sites.

Leigh Stringer

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